Modern streamlined escalators and moving walkways are provided with slim balustrades formed from a sheet material, usually glass. The glass balustrades are held in place by mounting assemblies which are disposed beneath the side decks of the escalator or the like. These mounting assemblies will typically include some sort of channel member in which the bottom of the balustrade rests. The balustrade will be secured to the channel or channels with drilled through nut-bolt assemblies, or with adhesives, or with some sort of clamping device. The channel can be a relatively long extruded metal member, or it can be made up of a number of short separate clamps which are spaced along the bottom edge of the balustrade. The balustrade-supporting channel or channels will be somehow tied into the truss of the structure, and also provides the anchoring points for the inner and outer decks which flank the steps or treads on the escalator or the like. Finally, the handrail return guides which guide movement of the handrails along their return path of travel have also been anchored to the balustrade-supporting channel or channels.
The mounting systems of the prior art have two drawbacks which relate to the location of the handrail, and the accessibility of the various mounting components for installation, servicing, repair and the like from outside of the decks. It will be appreciated that the mounting systems are buried beneath the decks, and accessibility for servicemen is of paramount importance. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,926,296 granted Dec. 16, 1975 to G.L. Woodling et al; 3,991,877 granted Nov. 16, 1976 to J.K. Kraft, et al; 4,646,907 granted Mar. 3, 1987 to K. Streibig, et al; 4,690,264 granted Sep. 1, 1987 to W. Adrian, et al; and 4,819,781 granted Apr. 11, 1989 to C. Saito, et al. are all illustrative of prior art glass balustrade and deck mounting systems of the type described above. It will be noted that in each of the aforesaid patented systems, all of them except that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,264 to Adrian, et al. include physical obstructions between the inner side skirts of the escalator and the return run of the handrail. This requires extensive disassembly of the system before the handrail can be reached to be serviced. If one were to desire to remove and replace a worn handrail, the entire inner skirt assemblies and their inner supporting brackets have to be removed because each of these support brackets blocks removal of the handrail from its return path of travel. The Adrian, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,264 discloses a mounting assembly which does not block access to the handrail, but wherein the handrail is positioned quite deeply under the decks, and is difficult to reach even in the absence of physical impediments. A much more desirable location for the handrail return path is approximately even with the step treads, as is shown in the Saito, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,781, but, as previously noted, the skirt fastenings block access to the handrail even though it is elevated. It would be highly desirable to provide a mounting assembly of the type described above wherein the handrail return run is located at about the same level as the step treads, and close to the upper inner skirt panel, while being free of obstructions, so that the handrail can be easily reached, and can be removed from its return guide system without having to dismantle the entire inner skirt structure.